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From Kachka in Portland comes this simple and delicious dish of trout roasted over leeks and served with a warm grain salad dotted with figs and walnuts.

PLAY IT AS IT LAYERS| Roasting the trout over leeks not only infuses the fish with flavor but makes for a handsome presentation
Photo:
Alpha Smoot for The Wall Street Journal, Food Styling by Heather Meldrom, Prop Styling by Nidia Cueva

The Chef: Bonnie Morales

What She Is Known For: Luring Portlanders to a rollicking nightly party with free-flowing vodka and dishes from all over the former Soviet Union.

GROWING UP IN an immigrant family in Chicago,
Bonnie Morales
just wanted to be like everyone else at school, “eating Cheetos for lunch instead of weird salamis and having Hamburger Helper for dinner instead of boiled beef tongue.”

Not until she met her husband, Israel Morales, did she began to reassess the Belarusian dishes she was raised on. “He was really excited about my family’s cooking,” Ms. Morales said. “Instead of being embarrassed about who I was, I got excited too.” That enthusiasm—honed at the Culinary Institute of America and restaurants in New York and Chicago—eventually led the couple to open Kachka in Portland, Ore., with a menu inspired by the cuisines of the former Soviet Union.

This trout—roasted over leeks and served with a warm salad of buckwheat, walnuts, figs and more leeks—features at Kachka, only in a slightly grander presentation. “Russians love celebrations, serving elaborate whole fish and stuffing things,” Ms. Morales said. Though this adaptation uses easy-cooking fillets instead and turns the stuffing into a topping, all the layers of the original are there. “The flavor of the leeks penetrates the fish as it roasts,” said Ms. Morales, “and the figs have a deep sweetness that plays off the buckwheat really nicely.”

Roast Trout and Leeks With Warm Buckwheat Salad

Total Time: 30 minutes Serves: 4

2 cups whole buckwheat groats

4 medium leeks

4 (8-ounce) boneless trout fillets

Kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

¼ cup butter

¾ cup toasted and finely chopped walnuts

¾ cup chopped dried figs

Parsley leaves, for garnish

Lemon wedges, for serving

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a lidded medium pot filled with 4 cups salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add buckwheat, cover, lower heat to medium-low and simmer until tender but still chewy, about 10 minutes. Drain and toss dry.

2. Trim root end of leeks then cut away and discard dark-green part. Carefully remove outer layer from white and pale-green part of leeks and set interior aside. Thoroughly rinse and dry outer layer of leeks and use to line a large baking dish, flattening to fit. Lay trout fillets over leeks in baking dish. Season fillets with salt and olive oil. Roast fish until just cooked through and flesh flakes when prodded, about 12 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, finely chop remaining leeks, then thoroughly rinse and dry. Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add chopped leeks and cook until translucent and tender, about 5 minutes. Off heat, stir in walnuts and figs. Season with salt to taste, then stir in cooked buckwheat.